


Because I Knew You

by ElvenSorceress



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon Het Relationship, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Miscarriage, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-23
Updated: 2013-04-23
Packaged: 2017-12-09 06:57:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/771336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElvenSorceress/pseuds/ElvenSorceress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While in grad school, Bruce met a woman. She changed his life and he loved her beyond all reason.  - The beginnings of Bruce and Betty's relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Because I Knew You

**Author's Note:**

> \- I took this from a much longer Tony/Bruce fic I'm writing, but I feel it deserves to exist on it's own. And yes, I'll eventually add more to it. :) 
> 
> \- Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, I see Bruce as demisexual and that's how I like to write him.

Autumn 1996

 

She was crying when they first met. She'd gone over her allotted time slot for the library study room. The librarian and impatient criminology club scolded her for using a cell phone and not actually studying while in the room. But that hadn't made her cry. It made her stand taller and narrow her eyes as she gathered her belongings.

Once she was out of view of the librarian and the students who had to have the room right that very second, she crumpled and hid her face in her hands.

He didn't know what possessed him to approach her. She had to prefer being left alone. But she looked so heartbroken and devastated. He went over to her and asked if she was ok.

She was startled and tried to wipe her eyes, but was only moderately successful.

He pointed to the chairs in the corner where he'd been working. "Do you want to sit down? I'll find you some Kleenex."

She shook her head and took deep, broken breaths. "I'm ok," she said but more tears welled in her eyes.

He wanted so badly to hug her and protect her and completely destroy everything that was hurting her so much. But he didn't. He did position himself between her and the now occupied room she'd been in.

"I just," she tried to pull herself together. She fought so hard, and he could feel the pain and frustration and how strong she was. But there were always those terrible weaknesses — things that would break you no matter how invincible you were otherwise. "I try so hard, and it's never good enough. I'm never going to be what he wants. I'm not that person. And every time I think I've done something right or successful, he just." Her soft, lilting voice turned lower, darker, but steadier. "He reminds me how wrong I am."

Who was she talking about? What sort of person would do that to her? How could Bruce ruin whoever made her feel inadequate? He knew that feeling. He was never good enough either. He should say something reassuring or positive. But what? How? "I'm sorry. I…" God. Words. Social interaction. How did anyone know what to do or say in these situations? "Is there something I can do?"

She let out a long, heavy sigh. "No. Not unless you want to go yell at my dad on my behalf. Which I really wouldn't mind at this point."

"Your father?" That's who hurt her like this? Not a teacher or a boyfriend? "He was the one on the phone with you?"

"Yeah. Unfortunately. He just wanted to tell me how disappointed he is that I'm still doing this," she gestured around the library. "And not, I don't know, marrying some upstanding general or getting a real job or whatever he thinks would be better."

Bruce could handle that. He knew being a disappointment. "I could tell you all about my own father and how much he hates me. I don't know. Might make you feel better about your own?"

She smiled a little and his heart skipped like it was stumbling unexpectedly. "I don't know about that. I might have you beat."

"That's ok, too. Actually, no, it's not. You should have the best father. One who doesn't treat you however he's been treating you."

She looked at him when she smiled this time and her eyes were deep blue and bright and full of something strong and sweet and innocent and damaged all at once. "Thank you."

He nodded, and his mouth felt full of dry cotton.

She brushed her long, thick dark hair over her shoulder off her face, and straightened to her full height. She was taller than he was. Powerful and soft and graceful. "I'm Betty."

~*~*~

Spring 1997

 

They started first as study buddies. Lab partners. Betty practiced for exams and wrote papers on microbial metabolism and neurophysiology while he worked on spectroscopy charts and wave mechanics. It didn't hurt that he could often answer questions she had about human physiology and genetics, which meant she liked having him around while she did homework.

She didn't really need his help though. She was incredibly bright and sweet and strong, and everyone who met her loved her and thought she was wonderful. She told him once that it was because she'd learned how to make friends quickly. While it seemed like plenty of people adored her, none really took the time to get to know her. She wasn't very close to any of them so she tried to stay friendly with everyone and be nice to everyone.

Bruce could never spend enough time with her. It always felt too brief, and he started measuring days by how long until he'd see her again. The intervals grew shorter every time.

They'd meet for breakfast and early morning course reviews before tests, then for lunch while they waited for afternoon classes and labs. Every once in a while, they'd stay up all night - as long as the library would let them and then at 24hr diners or in the common room lobby at her apartment building.

She had a boyfriend at the time so they never worked in her apartment or his. But she still spent enough time with him that some people got suspicious of their relationship. Her boyfriend, however, deemed Bruce a fag when they met, so at least he was never one of those suspicious people.

It didn't bother Bruce so much that she was in a relationship, but there were plenty of reasons to hate the boyfriend. Being her friend was more than Bruce could've hoped for, but the man who was supposed to love her always assumed she'd do whatever he wanted and got annoyed when she didn't. He had to do better on tests and papers than she did because he was "the man." Except he never did. Bruce checked. Not once did Betty receive a lower score. And then the boyfriend completely disregarded and "forgot" about her birthday even though practically the whole campus was buzzing about it and had been planning a celebration for months.

Bruce debated for about as long on something he could give her. Should it be practical and boring like something for school? Or something mundane like a gift certificate? He could give her something harmless like a book. Or something he knew she loved like flowers. There was a gold bracelet he knew she wanted but it probably carried too much meaning. In the end, he gave her a purple rose because it was her favorite and promised to cook for her if she ever wanted to have dinner or something with him.

He didn't find out until later, but she dumped the boyfriend after he snubbed her birthday party. Two weeks after, she came to Bruce's apartment to collect her present and watched as he made eggplant parmesan. When he turned to grab something out of the fridge, she pulled him close and kissed him. They never did make it to having dinner.

~*~*~

Autumn 1998

 

She almost broke up with him several times, but talked herself out of it somehow. He didn't know how. He wasn't exactly sure of the reason or reasons she was upset or angry. He never knew what made her decide to stay, but she always did. She always convinced herself.

Except for once. She packed once.

She put all of her clothes and books and makeup and everything in boxes and suitcases. They hadn't officially been living together, but since they spent essentially every night together, it was close enough. Her belongings were still everywhere. Their closet looked bare with only his clothes and the bathroom was practically empty. The bookshelves had spaces that shouldn't be there, and it wasn't like half of everything was gone. All of everything was gone. It was all empty.

His heart ran far too fast. He didn't know what to do. What could he say? How had she talked herself out of it before? What had he done wrong? Why wasn't he good enough?

"I can't do this anymore," she told him. "It hurts too much. You're so thoughtful and supportive and sweet, and I so love that about you. I love you. I adore you. But I don't think I know you at all. I know I don't know you at all."

At least, that answered one thing. He'd done something. Whatever the transgression, it must've shaken how she saw him. What could he have done that completely altered her perception? "I can try to tell you who I am if that's what is bothering you."

"You can, yes. But you don't. You're just," she waved a hand in front of her face. "You're blank. You're cut off from everything. You don't act like you care at all, and I understand why. I know it's a defense mechanism because only Jennifer and I have ever given you real acceptance and love. I know that's why you're totally closed off. And I want to love you and know you and give you everything you've never had, but you don't let me in. I know you're nice and would do anything for me and the last thing I ever want to do is hurt you, but do you even care about me at all? Beyond the conventional politeness?"

Her words were too fast and too painful. He couldn't handle them all at once. Not if he was supposed to process the information and provide a reasonable response. What should he say? Or do? Was she leaving him no matter what? How could he possibly get along without her? "I love you." It hurt when the words came out. They were impulsive and felt stupid, but they were true.

Her eyes grew wide but then she looked pained and not quite believing.

"I mean it," he insisted. "I'm not just saying it. I love you. I don't know how to let anyone in. But I would let you. I will let you. I just. Don't know how."

The disbelief faded until there was only sadness on her face. She eliminated the distance between them and wrapped him in her arms.

He held her tightly and didn’t ever want to let go. "Please don't leave me."

She squeezed back and didn't.

~*~*~

Winter 1999

 

Two years after they'd been together, Betty met him at the physics lab and said she needed to talk when he had the chance. If it were something trivial, she wouldn't have stopped by, and if it were something positive, she'd be happy, but she only gave off worried vibes, and he improvised the rest of his data. He'd obtain accurate values later.

She waited for him, arms crossed over her body, pacing up and down the physics hallway. He took her hand and held it tightly as he followed her out to the courtyard. She sat next to him on a bench but then stood, stepped back to the opposite end of the bench and sat down farther away but facing him.

He started to reach out and offer his hand but took it back and folded his hands together. "What's wrong? Are you ok?"

She sighed and didn't really look at him. "I, um. I think I'm. I haven't. It's been like two months and I haven't. So, I'm pretty sure I..." She made a vague hand waving gesture.

If she meant was he assumed she meant. What was he supposed to say? Or think? She didn't seem pleased or happy at all. "You are saying what I think you're saying, right?"

She nodded and only glanced at him.

God, she wasn't happy. Why would she be? Unless she had someone else somewhere that he didn't know about, it'd be his. It'd mean she was stuck with him. Or at least something that was part him. "You don't know for sure?"

"No, I…" She shakes her head and looks lost. "I didn't do any tests. Or have any tests done. I didn't know what to do or think or anything. I was just taken aback."

"Do you want to do a test?"

"I want to know for sure."

He assumed that meant she wanted something with a high degree of accuracy. "We could hack the med school and figure out how to put together a hCG blood test. Or we could get a regular test like regular people."

She smiled and finally looked at him.

His heart felt like it only now remembered how to beat. "Oh! The med school has an ultrasound machine. Feel like going incognito?"

Her smile widened and she nodded.

"Ok." He stood and offered her a hand. They snuck into the school, waited for a few students to leave, wheeled the machine into a room they could lock, and got it warmed up and running. He set the pulse controls and gave her the transducer to hold on her abdomen while he watched the monitor.

He hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until she squeezed his arm. He didn't look at her right away. He couldn't stop looking at the screen. There was a gray oval in the dark open space. And it flickered light and dark, light and dark on one side. She tugged his arm up and grasped his hand.

With his other hand, he pointed to the monitor and the little flickering and looked back at her. "That's a heartbeat."

Her lip quivered and tears welled in her eyes. She was upset. She was sad. She didn't want this. She pulled her hand out of his and covered her mouth. Her breath hitched and she made a sad, sobbing noise. "It is? It's a heartbeat?"

Bruce swallowed hard and nodded. "You're probably at least six or seven weeks along." What was he supposed to do for her? Should he apologize? That was a baby. That was their baby. He just. Wanted her to be happy. Why wasn't she happy? Ok, he could think of plenty of reasons why. But. Why?

She made another sobbing noise and reached for him. She pulled him into a kiss then brought their foreheads together. "I love you."

"Love you, too," he said, searching her face. "Are you ok?"

She nodded and laughed lightly. "Just. Overwhelmed. What about you? Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But I'm not the one carrying the baby."

She shrugged and ran her fingers through his hair.

He doesn't want to ask her. He shouldn't ask her. He just has to know. "Do you want to keep it?"

She looked down and away. Her eyes flitted to the screen. "Yeah. I do."

He bit his lip and toyed with the edge of her shirt. "Do you want to keep me?"

Her hand with the transducer slipped off her abdomen. "Why would I not want to keep you?"

"I don't know. You just seemed… unhappy. Are you worried?"

"Of course I am. I don't know anything about raising a kid. And I have at least three more years of school. We haven't even been together very long. I wasn't sure you'd be happy."

They'd been together longer than a lot of people. Maybe it was only a couple years. But he wasn't ever planning on letting her go. When he thought about his future, it was her. "I am. I can put my school on hold. I can't be pregnant for you, obviously. But I can take care of the baby."

She tipped her head and stroked his hair some more. "You'd do that?"

"I would. I always wanted a family. And I want you. I want you to be happy."

She smiled that beautiful smile that made everything melt and pulled him in for a kiss. "You make me happy."

~*~*~

Winter 1999

 

He found out in the worst way that Betty had been visiting the ultrasound machine at least every other day for three weeks. She called him in the middle of class and told him she couldn't find the heartbeat.

He tried to tell her sometimes you can't see it but he knew if she was at about ten weeks and she'd found it every other time that it wasn't a good sign, and she could tell he was lying.

He took her to the doctor but by then she was bleeding. She hemorrhaged so much they had to give her a transfusion, but at least medications and loss of blood kept her from staying conscious. Bruce stayed awake. For hours. Maybe days. He held her hand and sat beside her every second.

Until her father came, punched him, and kicked him out. Bruce stayed in the lobby then and tried to be numb.

It was all his fault. He'd done this to her. He caused her pain and trauma and suffering. And their baby and the tiny little heartbeat were gone.

Betty was quiet when they came home. She wouldn't say anything and wouldn't seem like she was crying, but tears kept falling down her face. He held her and kissed her forehead and rubbed her back but felt beyond helpless. Sometime later, she asked if he could make his tomato soup and if he'd make her grilled cheese to go with it.

His hands kept shaking while he sliced tomatoes, cut basil, and added cream. The knife slipped in his grasp and slid through the side of his finger. He wrapped his hand in a kitchen towel and couldn't keep it together anymore. He cried for a good ten minutes like the world had ended, then cleaned up his hands, and finished cooking for her.

 


End file.
